As far as the rest of the unrestricted players go, the team will take a wait-and-see approach.

“The other guys I’m not sure,” Holland said. “I basically told the other agents we’re not doing anything right now. Under the CBA on June 27, which is next Wednesday, we can start talking to potential unrestricted free agents.

Bertuzzi, 39, had nine goals, seven assists and was a minus-17 in 59 games last season.

Samuelsson, 37, had one goal, three assists and was a minus-7 in 31 games over two seasons.

“There’s a lot of chatter about trades, but I don’t know if things will come to fruition or not,” Holland said. “If we go out and sign one or two people we’re basically done. These guys might be the best options we’ve got, but right now we want to keep our options open so we can explore.”

There is also no more news regarding who’ll back up Jimmy Howard next season.

DETROIT >> Mikael Samuelsson’s return to the Detroit Red Wings didn’t start well and it most certainly didn’t end well.

After an injury plagued first year, the veteran forward quickly found himself passed over by the youngsters in the organization this past season.

“I’m just disappointed the way this year started out,” said Samuelsson, who just wrapped up his two-year deal worth $6 million. “I was hoping and believe I have something more to give, but at the same time when the young guys came in they definitely deserved a chance to play. They played so good then it became a tough spot for the management. I guess I was the odd man out. From my standpoint I didn’t like what was going on.”

In 26 games last season, he had just one goal, two assists and was a minus-4. He averaged just over 10 minutes of ice time a game.

“It was very disappointing,” Samuelsson said. “You can see it from both ends, they didn’t think I performed and I don’t think I got that much of an opportunity. Even though I played 20-plus games when you look at the games the amount of ice time I got, in my mind that’s not what I wanted here.”

The Wings waived Samuelsson in late January. He played just two games in Grand Rapids and registered no points and was a minus-4.

“I was happy something was going on at the point,” Samuelsson said. “It’s not easy to waive a guy that makes the amount of money I made and showed pretty much absolutely nothing this year. At that point I knew I wasn’t going to get picked up, one plus one is two. I just wanted to play some games.”

It looked like Detroit was going to use one of its two amnesty buyouts on Samuelsson last offseason, but the team felt he possible would contest the move because of a pectoral muscle/shoulder injury he suffered in the playoffs.

“They talked to me for a little bit, but I didn’t expect or wanted them to talk,” Samuelsson said. “They talked through actions. That’s how they talked. It’s not like they said you’re still a good player. It’s the actions that spoke more than words.

“I need to take some time and do some good thinking what I want to do,” Samuelsson continued. “I still think I can play hockey that’s the bottom line. Whether it’s going to be here or somewhere else today I don’t know what’s going on.”

ANN ARBOR — The Wings hope to have Daniel Alfredsson in the lineup. He was a last minute scratch Monday suffering from back spasms. If he can’t, Patrick Eaves will take his spot in the lineup. Mikael Samuelsson will be a healthy scratch.

— Johan Franzen is still a ‘ways away’ according to general manager Ken Holland. “He’s getting better every day, but until you see him practice with us every day for three of four days. I don’t know that he’s that far away, but he’s away.”

— Goalie Petr Mrazek has decided against wearing his customized snowman pads to backup. Mrazek wasn’t able to take part in Grand Rapids’ outdoor game since he was backing up in Nashville. “That’s how it is,” he said. “I’ve just got to stay positive and keep working hard.”

— The game is a sellout with 105,500 tickets sold according to NHL COO John Collins. That’ll set a world record, breaking the previous mark of 104,173 for The Big Chill at the Big House between Michigan and Michigan State.

DETROIT — After playing 13 games in a row, Mikael Samuelsson has found himself watching in street clothes in six of the last eight games.

“It’s extremely disappointing,” Samuelsson said. “It’s out of my hands. I’m disappointed I can’t be in the lineup.”

Samuelsson, who’s played in 21 games this season, has one goal and three assists. He’s also a minus-5.

“Score more,” Samuelsson said when asked what he needs to do to get back in the lineup. “It all goes hand-in-hand. It’s a matter of ice time, it’s a matter of confidence right now. That’s what I need most of all.”

The team even recalled Jordin Tootoo and inserted him into the lineup for two games, while Samuelsson, who’s averaging just under 10 minutes and 30 seconds of ice time a game, sat.

“You can say you’ve got to skate faster and battle harder, absolutely,” Samuelsson said. “I haven’t played my best hockey. It has its reasons, too, but I don’t want to comment on that. I just have to take it one day at a time.”

Samuelsson, who’s in the final year of a two-year deal that pays him $3 million a season, was injured nearly the entire 2012-13 lockout-shortened season.

“When you’re 35 and you’re sort of in the lineup, out of the lineup and when you do play, you don’t play a lot of minutes, the natural thing to happen is you lose your confidence and start to play a game that isn’t how you got here in the first place,” Wings general manager Ken Holland said. “He’s a guy we brought back because he plays puck possession and we thought he could play the right point on the power play and chip in 15-20 goals. Last year he was hurt (basically) the entire year. In the meantime we signed Daniel Alfredsson, (Stephen) Weiss and (Tomas) Tatar is an NHL. We’re deeper, we have more NHL forward that last year so there’s more competition.”